EXPERIENCING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE AT INEOS BRITANNIA'S BASE IN BARCELONA WAS BITTER-SWEET
WELCOME TO THE June edition of Sailing Today with Yachts and Yachting and, as summer beckons, thoughts turn to one of the big events just over the horizon - the America's Cup. I was fortunate to be invited to take a tour of INEOS Britannia's base in the spring which gave some insight into what was going on – you can read my report on p34. Unquestionably the most fascinating thing was getting out on the water in a chase boat to follow Ainslie and his team as they hared across the water in their foiling AC40 trying to hone their skills before their AC75 hits the water. This was fascinating for many reasons but perhaps the most intriguing - not to mention visceral - of all was the experience of being in the chase boat. This was a big RIB with 2x 350hp outboards on the back. Now, I have spent a good deal of my life shuttling people back and forth in various RIBS at various levels of high speed and it therefore generally holds very few thrills for me. For one thing, unlike on a sailing boat, you are often at odds with the sea and are constantly being slammed and juddered about in teeth-rattling fashion. Sure, the first buzz of acceleration is joyous but after you settle into the groove it eventually becomes only slightly more exciting than driving a ride on lawnmower. So I settled into this large chase boat without much thought. It looked a tad bumpy outside the breakwater but nothing
